Very interesting FTK.. Never seen a headstock like that before, or played a softwood guitar..

Hey cool, I see our classical/nylon string guitar thread now has over a 100 posts..

Teledeluxe, how's that Alhambra settling down? Still feeling your way into it?

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Fender Highway & Classic 60s Strats, Fender Toronado, Telecaster, Gretsch Projet, Charvel 3, PRS SE Soapbar II & Custom 24, Burns Batwing and many others!

I try a lot of different things on it. I will (somewhat sheepishly) admit the first thing I played on it was Stairway. The GF and I are taking classical guitar lessons so it's getting more of that recently.

@Frankie... I'm no relation to "Screamin" we're not even from the same state (at least as far as I know.)

...hence, the "research" I mentioned earlier.
i went to the guitar site suggested, started out as a guitar worth almost $3000, but by the time the research was finished, turns out there were some Japanese knock-offs of the "real thing". They so closely resembled the original, hand made guitars they made them tear out the labels and they were forced to sell them at stores like K-Mart for short change.
One of the "ebony" tuning pegs split on me back in the '80's revealing the white wood under the ebony stain.

Considered selling it a few times, but before I decided I figured I'd play it "one last time"... After playing it, I decided to keep it. Knock-off or not, it's a nice guitar.

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You're quiet there TD..

Is the new Alhambra such a distraction

Hope you're having a good time..

_________________
Fender Highway & Classic 60s Strats, Fender Toronado, Telecaster, Gretsch Projet, Charvel 3, PRS SE Soapbar II & Custom 24, Burns Batwing and many others!

Yeah, my Alhambra's wearing in really well. I've been busy the last week, but found some time for learning some bossa nova style stuff on it-the amount of chords is astounding! I looked up jazz/bossa nova chords on google, and found about 40 chords on one page-and they were all C's!

Hence the joke:

Rock is playing 3 chords to thousands of people.
Jazz is playing thousands of chords to 3 people.



Had my first lesson with my Alhambra on tuesday, it went down very well. The microphone can actually pick up my voice(only if I speak into the guitar!), which is pretty cool. At first, my teacher didn't believe there was a mic and pickup in there-their classical has just a pickup (it is older though).

Did a bit of bossa nova composition last night, my first composition with bass too, it's a short chord theme, but sounds quite nice. I love the style though, bossa nova is great!

It's going very well. I'm very happy with it, and I am so comfortable playing it! The cutaway is on a par with my strat's, and my tele's too. It's a different style of music that I play on it obviously, but it is very comfortable. It sounds really good too-a powerful bass, tight and composed mids, and ringing but not sharp treble. Playing multiple notes or chords is really good. I'm not sure if the sound has changed lots yet, but it will with time.

Definitely having a good time!!!

_________________
"reach for the sky and aim for the moon, for if you miss you will end up among the stars"

Zoom MS50G
72 tele dlx RI
2011 standard strat
Blackstar HT-5R
Taylor Big Baby

http://www.youtube.com/user/Almungo/videos?flow=grid&view=0

Following on from enquiries her about optimum humidity for a classical guitar, I found this piece from Selina & Adrian's Stafford Guitar's website. Sure they won't mind if I post it here, especially if you check out their site and buy one of their awesome handmade guitars! --

"THE GUITAR & HUMIDITY
The guitar is made of different kinds of wood: spruce or cedar for the sound board Indian or Brazilian rosewood, cypress or mahogany for the back and sides, ebony for the fret board, and Spanish cedar or mahogany for the neck. These woods are sensitive to changes in humidity and will expand or contract according to how much humidity is in the air around them.

The ideal humidity for wood instruments is between 40 and 70 percent. Above 70 percent the instrument usually begins to lose its brilliance of tone. Below 35 percent a guitar runs the risk of the body cracking and the neck warping. This is the more serious menace and occurs mostly during the cold winter months in temperate climates and in arid regions. A good indicator of whether or not your guitar is in need of additional humidity is the fret board. If the ends of the frets stick out it means the ebony has become too dry and has contracted. You can assume that the other woods have also shrunk and could crack under the stress.

There are a number of effective humidifying devices available to counteract this danger: The Dampit, the Kyser system, and the D'Addario system all provide a humid atmosphere inside the guitar body. When using them it is important that you leave them, inside the closed case when you take out the guitar to play it otherwise the case will become too dry.

A method of providing humidity to the neck and fret board is with a plastic travelling soap dish with a damp sponge inside and holes punched in the lid. If humidity is properly maintained your guitar should never suffer cracking or warping.

Humidity

Your guitar is made of thin wood which is easily affected by temperature and humidity. This combination is the most important single part of your guitar's surroundings. Martin keeps its factory at a constant 45-55 percent humidity and 72-77 degrees Fahrenheit. If either humidity or temperature get far away from these factory conditions, your guitar is in danger. A rapid change in temperature or exposure to cold can cause small cracks in the finish. These are lacquer checks. We recommend the use of a hygrometer/thermometer to measure the relative humidity and temperature surrounding your guitar.

As humidity increases, moisture content of wood goes up rapidly, causing it to expand and swell. A gradual increase in humidity won't generally do permanent damage to your instrument. When very high humidity is combined with high temperature, glue joints could possibly become weakened and may even open slightly. If your guitar is exposed to high temperature or humidity for any length of time, the glue under the bridge could weaken causing the bridge to pull off.

Rapid changes in local humidity are what you want to guard against. If, for instance, you place your guitar near a source of dry heat, the humidity around it will drop much faster than it would naturally, although a sudden dry spell can have the same effect. If the moisture content of wood is forced down in a hurry, portions of it shrink faster than others, causing cracks and open joints. Don't set your instrument next to a source of heat or hang it on a wall where it will dry out. At all costs, avoid hanging your guitar on an outside wall during winter months. The wall will be cooler than the inside air. The result is a conflict between the temperature of the top and back, with potential damage as a result.

Should the guitar be exposed to freezing temperatures, let it warm to room temperature while still in its case. This lets it come up to room temperature more slowly, decreasing the possibility of wood and finish cracks.

We recommend storing your guitar in its case when not in use. Humidity is easier to control in a smaller space. Don't bother loosening the strings when putting your guitar away unless it won't be used again for several months. Constantly tightening and loosening strings quickly ruins their sound.

The hard case supports the neck and body of your guitar as evenly as possible. It's important that you don't let anything lie under the head (the tuning machine end), as this could damage the neck and body.

Repairs to your instrument should be performed by an authorized repair person".

Hope that is of help Teledeluxe..

_________________
Fender Highway & Classic 60s Strats, Fender Toronado, Telecaster, Gretsch Projet, Charvel 3, PRS SE Soapbar II & Custom 24, Burns Batwing and many others!

That's some very detailed information. Puts to rest the lingering worries I had. Humidity here seems to be about perfect, and although I'm not sure what excessive temperatures are, compared to many other parts of the world, the summer highs of 30 degrees (celsius) don't seem to bad. It's only like that for about a week or two each summer anyway!

I do hang my guitar on a wall that also faces outside, but it is a modern, well insulated wall. I don't think it gets particularly cold overnight during winter so I'm not going to worry about that.

Some time I will record some pieces on my Alhambra and post the link here. I'm pretty busy though, so no promises that that will be this side of easter!

Thanks

_________________
"reach for the sky and aim for the moon, for if you miss you will end up among the stars"

Zoom MS50G
72 tele dlx RI
2011 standard strat
Blackstar HT-5R
Taylor Big Baby

http://www.youtube.com/user/Almungo/videos?flow=grid&view=0

Found a new guitar centre in the Midlands - the Stafford Guitar Centre.

Find them here: staffordguitar.com

I had a drive up there yesterday for a nose around. Ended up buying some guitar string ties (very cool gadgets that mean you dont have to tie the string onto the nut), a set of Savarez High Tension carbon guitar strings and I even booked a place on one of their residential weekend guitar playing courses in October. The place is run by a concert guitarist who was a fellow pupil of the teacher we shared about a million years ago..

Which got me thinking - what strings do you guys use? These hi tech high tension strings are a revelation - so bright and lively, they really woke up my new classical guitar which wasn't a slouch to begin with. Highly recommend them.

Amongst their mind boggling high end boutique luthier nylon string guitars, they do a good range of the more affordable Alhambra guitars (Teledeluxe has just bought one). I think they were the 5P, 8P and 9P models. They were very nice indeed..

_________________
Fender Highway & Classic 60s Strats, Fender Toronado, Telecaster, Gretsch Projet, Charvel 3, PRS SE Soapbar II & Custom 24, Burns Batwing and many others!

Adey,

My Alhambra came with either normal or high-right now i can't remember which. I wouldn't use extra high, or low. In the future, I will work out which tension I prefer. I agree about the sound-the higher tension strings do sound much livelier. I also prefer how they feel too-when a string is older and is losing it's tension or pull, because it is looser I find it harder to play on, because it moves around more under the fingers.

_________________
"reach for the sky and aim for the moon, for if you miss you will end up among the stars"

Zoom MS50G
72 tele dlx RI
2011 standard strat
Blackstar HT-5R
Taylor Big Baby

http://www.youtube.com/user/Almungo/videos?flow=grid&view=0

I heard a piece the other day that I just had to learn. It's a modern piece called "Birds Flew Over the Spire" by Gary Ryan, and it's just gorgeous.

I found out that it's currently in the syllabus for grade 5 Trinty Guildhall, so I'm guessing that Teledeluxe will be very familiar with it.. and probably plays it!

In order to get the music I bought the Grade 5 book. I have to say that things have changed since I was in my teens going through my grades! Some of the pieces in there are very modern (Blues? Bossa Nova?) cool.. if not the most musical..



I've just put these new fangled string trees on my Raimundo. I think they're such an elegant solution to the age old, fiddly business of tying on guitar strings. Check them out:

_________________
Fender Highway & Classic 60s Strats, Fender Toronado, Telecaster, Gretsch Projet, Charvel 3, PRS SE Soapbar II & Custom 24, Burns Batwing and many others!

They look great! Where do you get them from, what are they called? With my old admira, the body got a bit scratched from the strings being put on and off at the bridge. I never minded, because it was a cheap guitar. But I really don't want that to happen to my alhambra.

I looked up Birds Flew Over The Spire to jog my memory. I remember that one, it was a nice piece. I didn't do it in my exam but I think I was interested in it, just didn't learn it to exam level.

Another piece that I particularly like from Grade 5 is Rio By Night-a great bossa nova style song, that sounded really relaxing and airy. I played it for a school assessment in music class, and got full marks, 40/40, for it! Great song.

Here it is on youtube, someone playing it:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BGAu8wt0OOI

With regard to the syllabus, I think that they have had to...move with the times, sort of. Classical guitar is becoming less common, so to try and make it more popular, they have to try and shed the misconception that it's all really boring, and also try to include a larger variety of styles. By using some more contemporary songs/composers, they are likely to be more successful. At grade 6, more of the songs are more in the vein of what you were probably expecting-songs like El roble, Canarios, and Allegro. They are more traditional classical, and although I like them very much, I think it is good to include songs like Rio By Night or Birds Flew Over The Spire.

_________________
"reach for the sky and aim for the moon, for if you miss you will end up among the stars"

Zoom MS50G
72 tele dlx RI
2011 standard strat
Blackstar HT-5R
Taylor Big Baby

http://www.youtube.com/user/Almungo/videos?flow=grid&view=0

I saw them advertised on the Stafford Guitar website. I'll provide a link down below - there's an explainatory video to go with them. Also available in a cream bone colour without the decoration.




I have to agree - still a surprise though. I didn't have a work book when i did G5 Trinity. You were given a list of pieces for that grade - only had work books for I to IV.
I can't get over how beautiful "Birds Flew" is, and that I've never heard it before. Been at it for 3 days and got the first half down.


As for the string ties, look on

staffordguitar.com

- look under accessories..

_________________
Fender Highway & Classic 60s Strats, Fender Toronado, Telecaster, Gretsch Projet, Charvel 3, PRS SE Soapbar II & Custom 24, Burns Batwing and many others!

Thanks for showing me where to buy those string ties, I'll order them and use them next time I change strings. On their website, they claim that the ties make the guitar play and sound better? I must admit, I'm a bit sceptical about that. What are your thoughts, with them on your guitar?

If you like Birds Flew... then you may also like Rio By Night. It's a really cool, flowing, relaxing piece.

_________________
"reach for the sky and aim for the moon, for if you miss you will end up among the stars"

Zoom MS50G
72 tele dlx RI
2011 standard strat
Blackstar HT-5R
Taylor Big Baby

http://www.youtube.com/user/Almungo/videos?flow=grid&view=0

Those look cool, but I'm okay with tying strings--I wonder though how they might affect the stretching in period (Good or bad)

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It wasn't Willy-Nilly, it was at crows.

Hi Zonta and TD..

The Stafford Guitar website posted my 'review' of the string ties on their customer comments section if you want to see it, but basically any effects on tone are marginal at best. The feel of the strings is that they're a touch firmer and maybe just a fraction brighter in tone. I love the ties for their cosmetic look and they do alleviate the inevitable varnishing damage next to the bridge that can be made by the the string ends when they're tied on in the traditional manner.

As for the string stretching in period, I don't think they have any effect on that. But the string connection to the guitar is definitely more secure. I'm sure we've all experienced the odd moment when a newly tied treble string slips out and whacks your hand - or worse - the top of the guitar..

But I'm not being evangelical about the string ties - they're hardly essential. I just liked them and thought other classical players might like to know about them.

As for the pieces, I've nailed "Birds Flew.." now. Took most of my weekend but the piece will stay in my repertoire now. The "Rio" tune is cool too..

_________________
Fender Highway & Classic 60s Strats, Fender Toronado, Telecaster, Gretsch Projet, Charvel 3, PRS SE Soapbar II & Custom 24, Burns Batwing and many others!